Generally, crampons are a kind of mountain-climbing equipment, attached to the bottoms of mountain-climbing boots to prevent slipping when climbing or descending an ice ridge or walking on ice or snow. Crampons are classified into two types: hinged and rigid. A hinged type crampon is bendable at an intermediate portion thereof like a hinge. A rigid type crampon is integrated into a single body. Furthermore, the hinged type crampons are used for climbing areas including both rock walls and ice walls. The rigid type crampons are used for climbing areas comprised solely of ice, for example, frozen waterfalls. Typically, the crampons have four, six, eight, ten, twelve or fourteen points. Crampons with four or six points are used for general mountain-climbing. Crampons with twelve or more points are used for climbing ice walls.
The basic method of walking with mountain-climbing boots having such crampons is to place the feet of a user flat on an ice surface. However, recently, according to the development of crampons, the method of walking with crampons is changing. When a user climbs an ice wall with crampons, the toes of the boots are turned outwards and the sole of each boot faces downwards, so as to evenly stick the points of the crampons into ice or snow. Thereby, the user is able to maintain his/her balance and can walk comfortably and safely.
Such crampons are used for climbing steep ice or snowy routes, but they are not suitable for walking on level ground. Therefore, only when climbing steep ice or snowy routes are the crampons attached to mountain-climbing boots; when they are unnecessary, a user must remove the crampons from the mountain-climbing boots and keep them separately.
Thus, conventional arts are disadvantageous in that a user must carry separable crampons in a knapsack when climbing a mountain in the winter.
Furthermore, conventional crampons are tied to the bottom of mountain-climbing boots with straps. Accordingly, on a mountain in the winter, it is very inconvenient to tie the crampons to the mountain-climbing boots for climbing ice or snowy routes and to remove the crampons from the boots when they are unnecessary.